U.S. P-47 Thunderbolt fighters during Mariana campaign of World War 2. Depicts some crashes and battle damage to aircraft on Aslito Airfield (Isley Field) Saipan in Mariana Islands. Opening scene shows P-47D number 43-25324 "Bouncin Bette" of the 19th Fighter Squadron, 318th Fighter Group, with severe battle damage from a Japanese 40mm Flak round. This plane was damaged on a raid over Pagan Islands. Mechanics checking over the plane and removing a damaged wing section from it. View across island showing huge crater at a crash site. Huge crowd of U.S. military personnel kept well back from the scene, in the background. Stretcher bearers running out and placing the dead pilot onto the stretcher. Scattered plane and a piece of engineering equipment which the plane crashed into showing the remains of both plane and the engineering equipment. Firemen fighting the fire on burning U.S. Navy FM-2 WIldcat aircraft. that crashed. Several men throwing dirt with shovels onto the burning remains of the plane. Men attending memorial services for lost pilots. Two P-47s buzzing the airfield. P-61 aircraft engines turning over as P-47s making landing. P-61 taking off at dusk. Aerial formation of P-47s buzzing the field at dusk. Aerial formation of four P-47s.
U.S. Army Engineers engaged in construction of an airfield on Saipan, Marianas Islands, during World War II. Bulldozers and trucks work on the field. Engineers use surveying tools such as transits and levels to lay out the site. Rock drill in operation. Soldiers lower excavating explosives into a hole and tamp. A soldier pushes plunger. Smoke arises due to an explosion in the foreground. Bulldozers, power shovels, tournapull scrapers and fleets of dump trucks at work on the project. U.S. Army Air Force C-47 airplane in flight.
A vast project to build a major airfield on Saipan, in the Marianas Islands, to enable U.S. B-29 operations against Japan mainland. Bulldozers and trucks work on the field. Asphalt plant in operation and a rock crusher in use. A lone B-24 Liberator bomber is seen in the middle of the field. Trucks transport asphalt and rock to strip. The asphalt being laid by the soldiers and then rolled on the strip.
Battleship USS Tennessee, BB-43, crew handles lines as a destroyer comes alongside during invasion of Saipan, Mariana Islands, in World War 2. Ammunition transferred from the Tennessee to destroyer USS Phelps, DD-360. Sailors carry projectiles and slide powder cases down a plank to the USS Phelps.
An U.S. Marine handles a captured Japanese gun sighting or artillery sighting device device during invasion of Saipan, Mariana Islands. Marine with captured Japanese light machine gun on the ground.
73rd bombardment wing of the 20th Air Force of the United States Army Air Force at Isley Field Base in Saipan, Mariana Islands during World War II. B-29 bombers take off for a mission on Truk, Caroline Islands under Japanese rule. Point of view from cockpit during take off operations. Pilot and crew members inside a B-29 cockpit. Other bombers of the team take off from the runway of the base. Bombers flying over sea. Pilot and other crew members at work. Ships in the sea.